Dear Neighbor,

I hope you had a restful Thanksgiving. I am continually thankful that I get to represent our wonderful district in Lansing. In this e-news, I will be discussing my upcoming coffee hour, the recent historic investment made in child care by the governor and legislature, the recent public safety supplemental bill that passed the House, and the tragedy in Oxford and how I believe we should move forward to reduce the threat of gun violence in our schools.

If you are in need of support or resources, or have any questions regarding legislation or state government in general, please feel free to reach out to me at my office via email or by calling (517) 373-0478.

Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Sincerely,

Regina Weiss

State Representative

27th House District

Upcoming Coffee Hour

Please join state Sen. Jeremy Moss and I for our next Community Conversation on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Huntington Woods Public Library (26415 Scotia Road in Huntington Woods)!

House Democrats, Gov. Whitmer Deliver Historic Investments in Child Care

On Nov. 8, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the launch of the Child Care Stabilization Grant that will distribute $350 million in grants to give every full-time child care professional a $1,000 bonus and keep child care programs open and serving kids.

I was proud to vote YES on the historic, bipartisan budget that made a $1.5 billion investment to expand child care access and opportunities for Michigan families. We know that for our economy to continue its rebound, Michigan families need reliable access to quality and affordable child care.

The Child Care Stabilization Grant application is now open. Licensed child care providers are eligible to apply and should visit Michigan.gov/childcare to review frequently asked questions and apply. Child care professionals will be awarded bonuses directly from their employer and do not need to apply. This is a non-competitive grant. Every eligible child care provider that submits a complete application will receive a grant award.

Public Safety Supplemental

On Dec. 2, the House passed a public safety supplemental that invests $368 million into police, fire and EMS systems around the state. The highlights of this legislation are recruitment and retention incentives for emergency personnel, funding for body cameras, funding for school resource officers and more.  I voted yes on this bill, but I do believe it could have been better. I offered an amendment that would have provided funds for de-escalation and bias training as well as jail diversion programs. I spoke to this amendment on the floor and you can watch my speech here. Unfortunately, this amendment was not adopted, but I will continue to support our emergency responders and work towards passing legislation that will give them more tools to serve their communities in a community focused way.

Tragedy in Oxford

On Tuesday, a horrific act of gun violence was carried out at Oxford High School. The shooting left four students dead and seven others wounded, including a teacher.

No parent should ever have to send their child off to school wondering if they will return at the end of the day, and no community should have to bury the children that they helped raise. Our schools should be safe havens for students to learn and grow, not places where active shooter drills are as common as fire drills.

As a former teacher, there was not a day I entered my classroom and did not think of what I would do if the worse were to occur. Through conversations I’ve had with teachers, school leaders and parents over the past few days, I know this tragedy and trauma has reached well beyond the community of Oxford and that so many of us are hurting right now.

Now is the time to comfort the community of Oxford, but I refuse to do nothing in the face of this senseless tragedy. As a member of the Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, I am committed to taking common sense steps to make our communities safer. These include universal background checks, a package that I was a part of introducing earlier this year (HB’s 4869–4871), and my colleagues’ safe storage bill package (HB’s 5066–5069), which would require guns to be secured in a home where a minor lives. The majority party has ignored these bills so far, but I will continue to fight for them.

Finally, if you or a loved one are struggling to process this tragedy like so many of us, Oakland County has compiled some tips and resources that can be found here.